SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — The UPEI women’s hockey Panthers open up their best-of-three Atlantic University Sport (AUS) semifinal tonight in Antigonish, N.S., against the St. FX X-Women in what should be a great series.
The Panthers will have their hands full with St. FX, but the numbers suggest this will be a real close series. The Panthers (20-7-1) finished the regular season in third place in the eight-team conference, four points behind second place St. FX (22-5-1).
St. FX took three of four regular season games with the Panthers with all games being close. A 5-2 St. FX win was the widest margin. The X-Women scored 85 regular-season goals and allowed 46 while the Panthers scored 82 goals and allowed 42.
There are five Islanders on the Panthers with all five being key contributors to the Panthers success.
Summerside's Taylor Gillis scored both goals in the Panthers 2-1 overtime win in the series-clinching quarter-final win against Moncton. She had a strong regular season, playing all 28 games and recording 17 points. Kensington’s Lexie Murphy had nine points in 28 regular-season games in her first year playing in the AUS.
Kelly and Ally Clements from High Bank and Maria Clinton from Souris are the other Panthers from P.E.I.
Five players each from Ontario and New Brunswick along with the Islanders form the majority of the Panthers 23-woman roster. The AUS women's conference was formed to start the 1997-98 season and St. FX has won 10 of the 22 championships. Saint Mary's is next with seven while Moncton has three. St. Thomas and UPEI each have one with the Panthers winning it all in the 2011-12 season.
Game 2 of this year’s semifinal goes Tuesday night in Charlottetown. The other semifinal has Saint Mary's playing UNB. It would be great to see the Panthers go all the way and win their second AUS championship.
The UPEI men’s Panthers just finished a disappointing year, bowing out in two straight games to Saint Mary's in their quarter-final. They finished in sixth place in the seven-team conference’s regular season.
Considering the men's Panthers are hosting the national championship next year, they have to be disappointed in how this year went. In fact, that has been the story for the last 29 years as they last won an AUS title in the 1990-91 season. Maybe next year, on the 30th anniversary of their last championship, will bring them luck. They appear to need some considering what lies ahead next year.
Curling
The Suzanne Birt-skipped P.E.I. team held a 5-4 record going into Friday's action at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Moose Jaw, Sask.
The Birt foursome has had a good week in making the final eight championship round but they will face a tough task to advance further. Three teams began Friday with 8-1 records while another is at 6-3. Only four teams advance, which puts Birt's rink in a position of needing some help and having to win or be eliminated.
Birt's 5-4 record could easily be 7-2 if a couple of key shots were made in two losses this week. Last-shot misses against the wild card team of Jennifer Jones and another missed shot against Saskatchewan that, if made, would have put Birt right in the thick of things. Curling is a game of inches and that was the case in those two losses.
Playoff hockey
Local playoff hockey is just around the corner as a number of leagues are set or about to begin the 2020 post-season.
The West Prince Senior Hockey League begins its playoffs in the coming week and fans will flock to rinks in Tignish, Alberton, O’Leary and Evangeline to take in the action. The Island Junior Hockey League has two weeks left in its regular season that wraps up on March 8.
The Maritime Junior Hockey League also wraps up on March 8 and local fans are excited about the possibilities that lie ahead for the Summerside D. Alex MacDonald Ford Western Capitals, who are the second-ranked team in the 131-team Canadian Hockey League. The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League has a month to go on its schedule that finishes on March 21. The Charlottetown Islanders are solidified as a playoff team and at this point could have any number of first-round opponents.
The Western Capitals have four games remaining in their regular season schedule. They finish their home schedule Thursday against Grand Falls while their last three are on the road against the Valley Wildcats on Feb. 28 and Campbellton and Miramachi on March 6 and 7, respectively.
The great year the Caps are having has been great for attendance. After 24 home games, the Caps are averaging almost 1,400 fans per game. The 1,394 average is second only to the Edmundston Blizzard, who continue to draw big crowds with an average of 2,535 fans per game after 23 home games. The Yarmouth Mariners have the third highest attendance numbers in the league, averaging 1,185 fans per game.
Finally this week, it is was 40 years ago this weekend when the Miracle on Ice took place at the 1980 Lake Placid, N.Y., Olympics. Anyone old enough will remember that last few seconds and announcer Al Michaels words of, ‘Do You Believe In Miracles? Yes!’
Team USA beat the heavy favourites from the Soviet Union 4-3 and then went on to beat Finland and win the gold medal. It was the biggest upset in the history of Olympic hockey and that was 40 years ago. Where does the time go?
Have a great week.
Joe MacIntyre is a local life insurance broker. His column appears every Saturday. Comments and suggestions can be sent [email protected].
